Disposable filter bag



March 4, 1969 ,1; J. FESCO 3,430,843

DISPOSABLE FILTER BAG- Fil ed NOV- 16, 1967 INVENTOR.

B MQ MM United States Patent 3,430,843 DISPOSABLE FILTER BAG John J.Fesco, Baldwin, N.Y., assignor to Studley Paper Company, Inc., FarRoclraway, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 13, 1967, Ser. No.682,205 US. Cl. 22962.5 Int. Cl. B65d 31/14, 31/00, 33/00 7 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of theinvention This invention relates generally to a bag and moreparticularly to an expansible bag for use as a disposable vacuum cleanerfilter bag.

Description 0] the prior art conventionally, a disposable type vacuumcleaner filter bag comprises a bag formed of a flexible air perviousfilter material capable of performing the separating operation in orderto remove the dust and debris from the air stream in which it isentrained, The bag must be capable of withstanding the strain imposedthereon during the operation of the suction cleaner, as well as theweight of the waste material entrapped therein.

In order to promote the efficiency of this type bag, it is highlydesirable that a maximum filter surface area be presented in order toaccomplish the separation function. Moreover, in Order to reduce therequirement of frequent replacement and also to reduce the cost of thesame, it is highly desirable that the bag or receptacle present as largea volume, for receiving the waste material, as possible.

An additional feature found to be desirable in vacuum filter bags isthat such bag conform itself as closely as possible to the configurationof the housing or receptacle within which it is disposed during use, inorder to utilize the available space at maximum efiiciency. Thisrequirement has become increasingly important in view of the tendency toreduce the overall size of the vacuum cleaning apparatus and the oftenasymmetrical configuration of the space within which the bag isdisposed. The desire for compactness often results in a design whereinthe configuration of the space provided for the bag does not conform toconventional bag shapes and may include projections in the interior ofthe bag receiving compartments which require substantial distortion ofthe bag shape, particularly when distended in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore among the principal objectivesof this invention to provide a bag having the aforenoted desirablefeatures.

In accordance with the present invention there has now been provided abag, suitable for use as a vacuum cleaner filter bag, comprising a sheetof flexible material having a pair of opposing side edges, one of saidside edges being provided with a plurality of pleats, including a facepleat,

formed thereon, the other side edge being provided with a face panel,said sheet being transversely folded medially of its length, theconfronting panels of the face pleat and face panel being joinedtogether, said pleats being laterally distensible along said transversefold, whereby a bag is formed which is resultingly olf-centerlyexpansible. In order to form the vacuum cleaner filter bag, theconfronting pleated ends and opposing face panel ends of said sheet arefolded over upon themselves to thereby secure said pleats againstlateral displacement along that end of the bag, the pleated edges beingheld in pleated condition only by the bight along said transverse foldat the other end of the bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be hereinafter morefully described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective 1 view of the invention vacuum cleaner filterbag in completed form.

FIGURE 2 is a view in cross-section taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of the subject filter bag except thatthe bag is shown in the expanded condition, as by mounting in a suitablevacuum cleaner and connected to the air-inlet thereof, the air-inletbeing shown by phantom lines.

FIGURE 4 is a reduced, fragmented view in perspective of the blank, fromwhich the bag comprising the invention is formed, in the process ofbeing folded over to form a folded bottom for the bag.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the figures ofthe drawing, the bag in accordance with the present invention isoff-centerly expansible and is formed of a blank 10 (FIGURE 4), saidblank comprising an elongated sheet of material, such as flexible porouspaper, normally employed for disposable filter bags, and having opposinglongitudinal side edges 12 and 14. Side edge 14 has an inwardly directedface panel 16, while side edge (12 is formed into a plurality of pleats20, 22, 24 and 26 by means of re-entrant folds which rest against fiatbody 30 of the blank. The apices 21, 23, 25 and 27 of the respectivepleats extend along the side edge 12 of the blank in step-wise fashion,with the shortest marginal extension being at apex 21 and the longest at27, 23 and 25 being intermediate thereof, 25 being longer than 23, for areason to be further explained. Face panel 32 of face pleat 26 isinwardly directed and is of a narrower width than side pleat 26. Theexposed surfaces of face panels 16 and 32 have deposited thereonlongitudinally extending adhesive stripes 34. As shown in FIGURE 4, theblank 10 is folded upon itself, along transverse fold line 36 mediallyof the length of the blank, so that the respective halves of the blankare brought into confronting relationship and form opposing fiat faceWalls 38 and 40 for the bag structure. Adhesive contact is made betweenthe opposing halves of the exposed surfaces of the said face panels sothat there is thus formed a bag structure having a folded bottom end andan open mouth at its terminal end. This can readily be seen by referringto FIGURE 4 wherein the blank 10 is shown folded upon itself and whenthe adhesive stripes 34 make contact, a bag is formed having an openmouth, as aforesaid. By viewing FIGURE 2, especially, it can be seenthat pleats 20, 22, 24 and 26 form gussets 42, 44 and 46, rsepectively.The bag is readily exp ansible by manually grasping, if desired, thepleat edges 50'. This action causes the pleated side to unfold and openthereby, laterally oif-centerly extending the bag wall to form arelatively large bag of generally right-triangular configuration.

When the bag is intended for vacuum cleaner use, in a preferableembodiment of the invention, opening means 60 (FIGURES 1 and 3) areprovided in one of the face walls as wall 38. Opening means 60 areeffected by means of a plurality of cuts 62 in said wall 38, which cutsgenerally conform to a star-shape, the lines of said cuts intersectingin the approximate center of said means 60. The opening means 60 aresurrounded by a collar 64 to provide a suitable mounting means for theair-inlet (phantom lines), fitting of a suitable vacuum cleaner (notshown) and to provide access into the interior of the bag. The open end66 of the bag is completely sealed by providing transverse adhesivestripes 68, 70, 72 and 74 on the open end so that when the top edgethereof is twice folded over upon itself as shown at 76 in FIGURE 1,said end of the bag is completely sealed and the terminal portions 78 ofthe pleats and opposing side edge 14 are interfolded and therebyconfined against displacement or unfolding movement in a lateraldirection, such sealing being accomplished by known conventional means.It will be noted, however, that the pleats along the folded bottom 80 ofthe bag are retained only by the bight of the transverse fold 36, sothat they are thus adapted to be expansible.

When the vacuum cleaner filter bag 82 is placed into a suitable vacuumcleaner (not shown) the bag may be manually distended, asaforementioned, which is preferable; however, this is not necessarysince the bag is automatically distended by the force of the dirt-ladenair entering the interior thereof, as shown in FIGURE 3, in thedirection of the arrows, by means of air-inlet 84. Thus, the bag 82 hasthe ability to conform itself to the interior configuration of thevacuum tank. As shown in FIGURE 3, gussets 42, 44 and 46 are stilldefined, however, it is clear that when the bag substantially balloonsout, that these would substantially disappear. With regard to thestepwise graduation of apices 21, 23, 25 and 27 (mentioned above) thisprovides for easier manual and/ or automatic distension of theoff-center expansion capacity of the bag 82.

Having thus described the invention as applied to specific embodiments,it is to be understood that various changes may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A disposable vacuum cleaner filter bag comprising a sheet of flexiblematerial having a pair of opposing side edges, one of. said side edgesbeing provided with a plurality of pleats, including a face pleat,formed thereon, the other said side edge being provided with only a facepanel, said sheet being transversely folded medially of its length, theresulting confronting panels of the face pleat and face panel beingrespectively joined together, said pleats being laterally distensiblealong said transverse fold, the confronting pleated ends and opposingface panel ends of said sheet being folded over upon themselves therebysecuring said pleats against lateral distension along that end of saidbag, the pleated edges at the other end of said bag being only foldinglysecured, whereby said bag is resultingly adapted to be off-centerlyexpansible.

2. A Ibag according to claim 1 wherein the apices of said pleats extendoutwardly in graduated stepwise relationship with the apex of said facepleat extending the furthest.

3. A bag comprising a sheet of flexible material having a pair ofopposing side edges, one of said side edges being formed into aplurality of re-entrant folds disposed against the fiat body of thesheet to provide pleated side edges therefor, said pleated edgesincluding a face panel, the other side edge being provided with only aface panel, the exposed surfaces of said face panels having an adhesivesubstance applied thereto, said sheet being folded upon itself along atransverse fold line medially of its length, the respecting halves ofsaid sheet and face panels being in confronting relation, and beingadhesively secured respectively to each other, the pleated side edges ofsaid sheet being only foldingly secured along said fold line, said bagthereby being adapted to be off-centerly expansible.

4. A bag according to claim 1 wherein said face panels are inwardlydirected.

5. A bag according to claim 3 wherein said face panels are inwardlydirected.

6. A bag according to claim 3 wherein said pleated edges extendoutwardly in graduated stepwise relationship with the edge formed by theface panel extending the furthest.

7. A bag according to claim 1 wherein said pleats form a plurality ofgussets.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,961,063 11/1960 Fesco 3813,297,231 1/1967 Fesco 22953 3,361,334 l/1968 Terzuoli 22953 1,625,9684/1927 Ware 22953 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 55-376; 22953

